A Financial Analysis Exercise: Exxon Mobil vs. Royal Dutch Shell, US GAAP vs. IFRS

a position with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The authors wish to thank participants at and the editorial staff of the BRC. We would also like to thank Jenifer Spencer and Dan Michael for their assis-tance with data preparation. Finally we would like to thank the PwC IFRS grant program for initial financial support. This exercise is designed to provide non-accounting majors with a learning experience to integrate the international issues of financial statement formats and reporting standards into financial statement analysis. The exercise requires the use of the 2009 10-K of Exxon-Mobile and the 2009 20-F of Royal Dutch Shell including selected footnotes and disclosures. The year 2009 is selected because of the volatility in crude oil prices between 2008 and 2009. The exercise is completed in three distinct assignments stages; each stage permits students to focus on particular elements of the analysis. The first stage focus is differing financial state-58 The BRC Academy Journal of Education Vol. 4, No. 1 ment format and presentation, the second stage focus is cross period and firm analysis, and the third stage focus is US GAAP and IFRS reporting differences. The best learning results are provided if students have a reasonable level of familiarity with financial statement analysis. The exercise has been used is an MBA core accounting course, but is suitable for an undergraduate financial statement analysis course